SEA MONSTER
by codbox
Summary: Set roughly around the end of Ocean Gem, Steven regrets that Lapis Lazuli had to leave and wishes she could come back, so that he may show Lapis that Earth isn't all that bad. And believe it or not, Steven's wish ends up coming true, as Lapis appears before Steven one night. However, there might be far more to Lapis's return than Steven initially thinks…
1. To Come Back Wrong

It was nighttime in Beach City, and the young Steven Universe was in his bed, his head buried in his pillow, doing his best to keep himself from bursting into tears again, as he still failed to come to terms with the fact that Lapis Lazuli, wanting nothing to do with Earth, left for Homeworld. Steven was a wonderful boy who saw the good in everybody, and he'd always be there to help those in need. And even when there are some hoops and bounds he couldn't manage on his own, Steven has the Crystal Gems, a trio of magic-wielding aliens, on his side. Steven and the Crystal Gems have bested dozens of terrifying foes, and have helped the eccentric citizens of the Beach City numerous times. Whether it be the ever-respectful Connie or the ever-ungrateful Lars, this quartet has yet to ever run into a person whom they could not help. That is, until they ran into Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli was of the same species as the Crystal Gems, but unlike the trio Steven has known all his life, Lapis Lazuli was far different in many ways. Lapis didn't care to help anybody. The various problems that plagued the Earth and its inhabitants were of no concern to her at all. All Lapis wanted to do was to go back to Homeworld, the planet where the Crystal Gems and she all originally hailed from. Lapis wanted to go back to her home desperately, so she stole the Earth's oceans, and used it to build a tower of water all the way up into the heavens, believing she could reach her home… But Steven and the Crystal Gems felled Lapis Lazuli, and retrieved the oceans of the Earth. Lapis, however, managed to escape to Homeworld, never to be seen again. Hence, here is Steven now, alone in his room, on the verge of a breakdown, as he lamented how he couldn't get Lapis to stay on Earth.

"Everything's going to be all right, Steven, I promise," a soft voice told Steven.

Steven looked up from his pillow, and noticed Pearl, one of the Crystal Gems, was (once again) watching him in his bed. Steven stumbled onto the floor at the sight of this, even though he's well aware Pearl has had a strange habit of watching him sleep for quite some time now. Pearl picked the boy up and propped him back up on his bed, then sat next to him, giving him a warm look of sympathy. Steven couldn't hold it back anymore and broke into tears as he gave the Crystal Gem a big hug.

"I miss her, Pearl," Steven said.

"I know, Steven," Pearl said. "But there's nothing you could've done."

"I _did_ try to do something!" Steven cried. "I tried… I tried to be her friend."

Pearl got up from the bed and gave Steven a gentle yet forlorn look as she walked towards the door.

"You can't be friends with everybody, Steven," Pearl said. "It's just… It's just a fact of life."

And Pearl closed the door behind her as she walked out of Steven's room, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. Steven understood what Pearl meant, yet he couldn't accept it; he knows he did his best to show Lapis Lazuli that the world isn't as dark as she thinks, and that not all humans and creatures out there are as vile and monstrous as the ones she encountered in the past. Perhaps he didn't try hard enough? Perhaps he should've been more aggressive in his tactics? And even if that's truly the case, does it really matter now if Steven realized what he should've done… now that Lapis Lazuli's gone? The young boy buried his head in his pillow once again, and while trying to stop his tears closed his eyes, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Pearl walked down the corridor and saw Garnet and Amethyst standing atop the temple's warp pad.

"How's he doing?" Garnet asked.

"Not good at all," Pearl said. "It's going to take more time than I thought."

"I can't imagine what's he feeling, but there's no time to worry about that right now," Garnet said as she adjusted her visor. "My future vision's foreseeing… something. It can't pinpoint it, but there's some sort disturbance going on around the Galaxy Warp… I can't tell exactly _what_ it is, though… How it looks is very vague, even with my future vision."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Amethyst asked as she took out her whip from the gem on her chest. "Let's get over there and take it out!"

"What?" Pearl asked hesitatingly. "But… But what about—"

"He'll be fine, Pearl," Garnet said. "Let him sleep for now—we can sort that issue out in the morning."

Pearl looked back at the door to Steven's bedroom, but reluctantly walked atop the warp pad, and vanished along with Garnet and Amethyst in an instant.

"….en

"….St….ven…..

"S-Ste…..v-v-ven…

"…

" **STEVEN!"**

The young Steven jolted awake from his bed at the sound of his name being shouted by the ominous, yet gentle-sounding voice.

"H-Huh?" Steven asked, holding her ears in pain. "W-Who… who said that?"

"Steven… **It's me.** "

"…Lapis?"

Steven hopped out of his bed and sprinted out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, looking back and forth and every other way to find the source of the cold, distant, yet calming and soothing voice.

"I can't see you!" Steven yelled. "Lapis, if that's you… tell me where you are! Please…"

"Where you freed me from the mirror…," the voice stated.

"The… The seashore?" Steven asked.

He exited his house and darted down the stairs and out into the shore of the beach below. And lo and behold, Steven indeed saw the person he missed: **Lapis Lazuli**. As he laid his eyes upon the Gem, the frown on Steven's face curled up into a wide smile, and another stream of tears escaped his eyes. It's unknown whether Lapis was frowning and smiling, however, as she was starting out into the sea with the light of the moon illuminating the horizon, with her back to Steven. Steven walk towards Lapis and held her hand, then went on his knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm so glad you're here, Lapis," Steven cried.

"Steven…," Lapis said in a low, solemn tone.

"Yes, it's me! It's Steven," Steven said. "Come on, we can talk inside."

"S-Steven… Home… H-Homeworld."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore… You're here now, away from all of that… You're here with us now! I-I can teach you all about Earth! I can introduce you to my friends and family! Dad, Connie, Sour Cream, Sadie… You could be friends with all of them! Just… Just give Earth a chance, Lapis… Why can't you give us a cha—"

But Steven failed to complete his plea to Lapis, as the Gem seized Steven's left hand and squeezed it so hard that she broke every bone in it. Steven cried out in agony and yanked his hand out of Lapis's grip, and fell onto the sand.

"L-Lapis!" Steven cried. "L-Lapis, what was—"

Lapis turned to Steven, and that's when the young boy saw what was wrong: Lapis's face and the entire front of her dress was completely covered in blood. The Gem's eyes were hard and glassy and completely devoid of emotion.

"…Lapis?" Steven asked in a tone of voice that showed how much he couldn't believe what he saw before him.

"N-No… Homeworld… H-Homeworld did… _something_ … to **ME** ," Lapis said in a voice that endlessly fluctuated in pitch and tone.

Steven backed away from the Gem.

"Lapis… What's going on?" Steven asked.

"R-Run… **Get away…** T-They want them…," Lapis said. "T-They… **W-We…** "

"Lapis, no!" Steven yelled.

The Gem grabbed Steven by the scruff of his neck, and in the deepest tone of voice, she went up close to Steven and said:

" **WE WANT YOU."**


	2. Hazy Future

The Crystal Gems were prepared to come face-to-face with the being that Garnet detected earlier with her Future Vision. But come the Gems' arrival to the spacious and prestigious structure that was the Galaxy Warp… there was nothing to be seen. Amethyst jumped off the warp pad, her thorny whip in tow, ready to strike whatever monster was waiting for them, only to be disappointed there wasn't any foe for her to fell.

"Are you sure there's something here, Garnet?" Amethyst asked. "Because I don't see squat."

"Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't here," Garnet said as she took off her visor, revealing her small, beady, yet beautiful eyes… along with the third eye situated in the middle of her forehead, which was looking around the area erratically. "But… There's something wrong."

"What do you mean?" Pearl asked. "Can't you see whatever this… _thing_ is with your future vision?"

"No…," Garnet said as she dropped her visor to the floor and started rubbing her temples. "I can't… I can't see… _anything_. Whatever it is, I think… I think it's disrupting my future vision…"

"W-What!?" Pearl cried. "W-What kind of creature is this? Is it even a Gem Monster?"

Garnet grabbed her head and yelled out in pain, and collapsed to the floor. Pearl and Amethyst ran to their fallen comrade to aid her, but all of a sudden, Garnet was engulfed in a flash of light! Pearl and Amethyst covered their eyes so they wouldn't be blinded. As the light dissipated and the two Gems uncovered their eyes, in Garnet's place there were two smaller beings… one a brutish-looking specimen that was red as fire, and the other a fragile-looking creature that was blue as ice.

"R-Ruby!?" Pearl exclaimed. "S-S-Sapphire?"

"H-Huh!?" Ruby yelled. "What the heck just happened!? Why did you un-fuse us?"

"It wasn't me…," Sapphire said as she rubbed her head. "I don't know what is was, it… It managed to escape my future vision."

"Is that… possible?" Amethyst asked.

"No…," Sapphire said as she brushed her bangs aside, revealing her single, closed eye, situated right in the middle of her face. "But I can use fine now, so let me a take a look if—"

Sapphire opened her eye, her eye completely bloodshot and her pupil shrunken to a point, and shrieked in horror at what see saw. Ruby went up to her to pick her up, but the little red creature was met with a fierce electric shock as she placed her hands on her partner.

"W-What the heck?" Ruby said worryingly as she looked at her hands. "What can't I—"

"It's a trick," Sapphire said as she got up from the floor.

"What do you mean, Sapphire?" Pearl asked hesitatingly. "What did you see?"

"It isn't here," Sapphire said as she ran atop the warp pad. "It tricked us into coming here."

" _What_ did?" Ruby said. "Sapphire, what's going on?"

"I… I don't know," Sapphire said. "But whatever I sensed when we were at the house, it fooled us into coming here. We never should've left the temple… It was there all along."

But that's when Sapphire noticed something rather odd with the warp pad.

"What?" Sapphire said. "The warp pad to the temple… it's broken."

The rest of the Crystal Gems were taken completely aback by this statement.

"Broken?" Amethyst yelped. "How?"

"I don't know!" Sapphire yelled. "I can't see who did it… But we need to get back, and fast."

"Sapphire… What's happening?" Pearl asked placing her hand over her chest.

"Steven and all of Beach City are in danger…," Sapphire said.

"Wake up, Steven…"

"…"

" **I said… WAKE UP, STEVEN!"**

The young Steven Universe felt a hand strike him right across the face, instantly waking him up. Steven looked around to see where he was, and it was familiar enough to him to realize that he was inside his home, but there was something horribly wrong: It was completely destroyed. The floorboards were yanked out of the floor and scattered all over, the furniture was torn to shreds, the windows were smashed, and there was water everywhere. And as for Steven himself, not only was he on the floor and completely soaked by water, he had numerous cuts and bruises all over his body. His clothes were ripped and dirtied, his hair was a complete and utter mess, and the worst of all was his hand, which was completely broken and unable to function.

" **Finally."**

Steven got up from the floor and saw Lapis Lazuli, her dress and face still soaked in blood, and her eyes still glassy and devoid of life. Lapis pointed at the temple area of Steven's abode, and the young boy was shocked to see that the warp pad was completely destroyed, rendering the Crystal Gems unable to come back from the Galaxy Warp.

"Lapis…," Steven said, a hint of fear in the tone of his voice. "Why?"

" **S-Steven…** N-No, Steven!" Lapis exclaimed, looking at her surroundings and covering her mouth in horror. "T-T-This… This isn't my… **Yes, it was… We know what we did…** "

Steven backed away from Lapis, who was holding her head and yelling out loud.

"S-Steven… Homeworld s-sent **US** here…," Lapis said, her voice echoing. "Sent m-me here… D-Did… **DID SOMETHING TO US** … It's made me… I can't… c-c-c-control…"

"Yes, you can!" Steven cried. "I… I don't know what they've done, but whatever it is, you can't fight it! I'm sure you can!"

The Gem lunges at Steven and strikes his across the face once again, sending him to the floor.

" **That isn't going to work** ," the Gem said. " **NOT this time.** "

Lapis walked towards Steven, grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, and hoisted him up from the floor.

" **Half-Gem, half-human** ," Lapis said. " **Talk about an abomination…** "

"L-Lapi—" Steven failed to say, as Lapis placed a finger upon his lips.

" **We'll make it all better** ," Lapis said, a wicked grin appearing on her face.

With a motion of her hand, all the water in the house collected together and forced a massive, floating sphere of liquid. Lapis threw Steven right into the sphere, and watched as the young boy struggled to hold his breath. The crooked grin on Lapis's face just kept getting wider and nastier the more Steven tried to escape the sphere of water, but all of a sudden, her grin vanished and her eyes went from glassy and soulless… to bright and full of life. Lapis put her hand down, and the sphere of water fell to the floor, becoming a large puddle of the destroyed floor, with Steven in the middle of it.

" **What are you doing…? WE MUST KILL HIM!** " Lapis yelled. "NO! I won't let you!"

Steven got up, coughing uncontrollably, looking upon Lapis, who was writhing around the room as if she was in pain.

" **They sent us back here for a reason…** ," Lapis said. "I don't care what they want anymore! I've seen it… Their evil… The horror, the h-hurt… You were right… Steven, you were right!"

Steven's eyes widened.

" **FOOL… You dare defy Homeworld!?** " Lapis yelled. "I don't care about Homeworld! THIS IS MY WORLD NOW! STEVEN, RUN!"

The young boy didn't have to hear the Gem twice, as he darted straight out of the house and down the stairs and onto the sea shore. He looked back and saw Lapis, high in the air with wings made entirely out of water, hitting herself in the head and yelling out loud in pain. Steven continued to run, all the way into Beach City. It was nighttime, so there wasn't anybody outside or any stores open. Steven was running out of breath trying to find a place to hide and collect his thoughts, but managed to find an alleyway, far from his house and the terror that has wrought it. Steven sat down on the dirty floor of the alleyway and looked upon his broken hand, his fingers were mangled and bleeding out, while not profusely, but bleeding out nonetheless.

 _I don't know what to do_ , Steven thought. _I can't get to the Gems… My hand's broken… It… It hurts._

Steven couldn't take the stress of the situation anymore, and started breathing more and more heavily. He was going into shock. His pupils shrunk, his heart was beating faster and faster, until… He fainted. His face hit the pavement, he closed his eyes, and he curled up into a ball as tears flowed from his eyes once again…

 _Garnet… Amethyst… Pearl…_ , Steven thought before finally sliding into unconsciousness. _H-Help… Help me…_


	3. Confliction

"Steven…"

"N-No…"

"Steven… Wake up, Steven…"

"No… G-Get away from me…"

"Please, Steven… **It's me.** "

"T-That… That wasn't you, Lapis… That wasn't… T-That wasn't…"

The young Steven Universe slowly opened his eyes, and to his surprise, he was no longer bleeding out on the cold, hard floor of a dirty alleyway. He was lying down on the comfy couch of somebody's well-furnished living room with his broken hand properly mended. And right across from him in a large chair that looked just as comfy was a young girl who was starting at him with a look of both relief and horror. Steven gave the young girl a small smile and sat upright in the couch, making audible signs of pain as he struggled to prop himself up.

"Connie…," Steven said. "How did you find me?"

"Mom works late," Connie said, getting up from the chair. "She saw you run past our house about a minute after she arrived home. She found you knocked out in the nearby alleyway and brought you here."

Steven looked at his bandaged hand again, then back at Connie, who suddenly had tears flowing from her eyes. She raised a hand and smacked Steven right across his face. Steven cried out in pain and got up from the couch to confront Connie for assaulting him, but as he laid eyes on the young girl, who looked at him with a look of utter sadness and disbelief, he sat back down immediately.

"What the heck were you doing out there?" Connie asked, tears running down her cheeks. "You had me worried sick! Mom brought you in and… I saw you. Cuts all over your body, your clothes dirty and torn, and your hand…"

She gave Steven's hand a quick glance.

"What were you doing that caused… _this_?" Connie asked. "Where were the Crystal Gems when this happened?"

"Look, Connie…," Steven said sternly. "I got this way because of Lapis Lazuli."

"Lapis Lazuli… That Gem who stole the ocean?"

"Yes… The Crystal Gems went somewhere but Lapis destroyed the warp pad. There was nothing they could've done…"

"But how? She went back to her home planet."

"She came back… But, there's something wrong with her. When I saw her at the shore, she was… she was covered in blood. And her eyes looked so… So empty. And her voice… At times she sounded normal, but… Other times it would be so deep and gravely… Like there was another person inside her, trying to take control of her…"

"Covered in… _blood_? Steven… Do you realize what that means?"

Steven's eyes widened.

"N-No!" Steven exclaimed. "It wasn't her! Somebody was controlling her!"

"What do you even mean by that, Steven?" Connie asked.

"I mean, she did horrible things… She destroyed my house, a-and… and tried to drown me, and broke my hand, but… it wasn't her."

" _She destroyed your house and tried to down you_ … yet, it _wasn't_ her? Steven, are you hearing yourself?"

"Connie, the people on her home planet did something to her that's causing her to do this! She told me herself!"

"What, and you're believing her?"

Steven walked towards the front window and looked out at the beautiful starry night sky. He turned to Connie and gave her and confident nod.

"I want to help her, Connie," Steven said boldly. "I don't care what she's done to me or my home… I want to save her. …I want to show her that she's wrong about the Earth."

Connie gave the young boy a pat on his shoulder and a small smile.

"Steven, I get it, you try to find the good in all people. That's what I like the most about you," Connie said. "But you have to face the reality of this situation… I mean, do you really believe you can do this? You're talking about somebody who stole the entire ocean to—"

Steven swatted Connie's hand off his shoulder.

"I know what she did!" Steven yelled. "But that was then, Connie… What she's done now isn't her doing! It's the… the _thing_ that Homeworld put inside her, or… the person controlling her… I don't know what it is, but don't you see? Whatever it is, it's _making_ her do all these things!"

"Steven, no!" Connie also yelled. "You can't just tiptoe around this! I mean, do you really think you can simply kiss and make up with someone like _that_? She's destroyed your home… She's _injured_ you! She tried to _drown_ you! You said… You said she was covered in _blood_ , didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Steven, don't you understand what _that_ implies? Lapis has either gravely injured or… or **murdered** somebody!"

"NO! Lapis isn't that kind of person!"

"Stop referring to her like she's a human, Steven! She _isn't_!"

"Connie, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this… I've got to go!"

Steven opened the front door and darted out the house to find Lapis Lazuli… well, he _would_ have done so, if Connie didn't grab him by his bad arm to hold him at bay. Steven gave out a loud yell, but Connie didn't care as she swung him to the floor and closed the front door behind her.

"You know there's nothing you can do for her," Connie said fiercely. "I'm sorry, but… Look at it this way: Even if she _is_ being possessed by something, what could you do about it?"

"I can… try to reason with her," Steven said.

"Not everybody can be reasoned with that way, Steven," Connie said. "I think… I think it's best if you stayed here. Wait for the Crystal Gems to come back and let them deal with it."

"I told you before, Lapis destroyed the warp pad," Steven said. "It's going to take them _hours_ to get back here! She'd have destroyed the entire city by now!"

"Then… Then let's just call the authorities! Let them—"

"NO, CONNIE! I don't care about stopping her! …I care about helping her."

Connie grabbed Steven's bad arm again, prompting Steven to wince once more in pain.

"No… I won't let you!" Connie exclaimed. "I don't want you going out there, not with that… that **MONSTER** out there!"

"Let go of my arm, Connie…," Steven said in a chillingly sinister manner.

"You can't do anything for her!" Connie yelled.

"I said let go of my arm…," Steven repeated.

"SHE'LL KILL YOU!" Connie yelled.

"SHE'LL KILL EVERYONE IF I DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT HER! NOW GET OFF ME!" Steven yelled at the top of his lungs as he punched Connie square in her face, knocking her glasses off and sending her to the floor.

Steven stepped back at what had just done. Connie looked up at Steven, her nose broken, blood running out her nostrils, and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I-I'm… I-I'm sorry…," Steven said, covering his mouth with his good hand, stifling tears. "I have… I-I have to—"

Connie didn't want to hear it anymore, and pushed Steven out of her house and closed the front door with a slam. Steven felt awful, and rightfully so; the boy struck one of his own friends… Hurt one friend to save another? Was that the right thing to do? Is that the way Steven will go through his life? So many questions and emotions were running around the young boy's mind, but he couldn't focus on any of that right now. Steven ran back to the temple to see what had happened to the Gem he'd left behind.


	4. Shallow Water

Although it was a bit of a slog, Steven managed to make it back to the seashore where his house was located. Well, what was left of his house after Lapis ravaged it, anyway. Everything was exactly the same way Steven left it, except for one thing: Lapis wasn't up in the sky anymore. Steven ran up the stairs to his house and looked around the ruins of his house, but saw no sign of Lapis at all. He checked every room, turned every piece rubble over, but the Gem was gone without a single trace. Steven clutched his bandaged hand, the pain of the broken bones within it causing him great grief. The young boy had no idea what to do; he had no idea where the Gems were, and even if he did, he couldn't reach them because Lapis destroyed the temple's warp pad. He punched Connie, one of his best friends, right in the face out of anger, and knew for a fact that a simple "I'm sorry" wasn't going to fix something so horrible. And the worst of all was Lapis herself, for Steen had no idea what was going on with her. The blood of her shirt, her glassy, dead eyes, and whatever the Gem Homeworld had done to her to make her so… deadly.

The young Steven Universe couldn't make heads of tails out of any of it. Something like this to happen all it one night was far too much for the little boy to handle. He started to hyperventilate, the thoughts of Lapis speaking to him in that deep, gravelly voice and attempting to drown him, and the image of Connie with tears streaming from her eyes, and blood running from her broken nose were burned into his mind. He has reached his limit. Steven ran out his house and hurried down the stairs, but tripped and tumbled down all the way to the sands of the beach below. He didn't bother getting up this time. He just… curled up in a ball, contemplating what he should do. He didn't want to fight Lapis… Despite what the Gem did, he didn't want to injure her. And what about the Gems? What will they think when they eventually find their way back? And Connie? How will he make amends with her after such an atrocious action? Steven's breathing got heavier and heavier, his thoughts got foggier and foggier, he trembled more and more until…

Everything stopped. No more tears flowed from his eyes, he no longer trembled, and he even stopped hyperventilating. And not just that, Steven also did something that he thought he could never do: He stopped caring. He remained curled up in a ball, gently closed his eyes… and stayed there. Not moving, not shaking… only breathing, and emptying his mind of everything… He didn't want to think about what happened anymore. He didn't want to think about anything anymore. He just wanted everything to end. He just wanted… to die.

Far away from Beach City and in the middle of the ocean, the Crystal Gems were completely stranded at the Galaxy Warp. Pearl incessantly paced back and forth, wondering what they should do, Amethyst was lying down on the floor, playing around with her whip. Ruby was angrily stamping around in circles, every step she took leaving a hot, ashy footprint on the ground. And Sapphire was atop the huge warp pad in the middle of the structure, wondering why her comrades and she couldn't use it to return home.

"I don't know if I've missed something, but why don't we use one of the other warp pads if the one to the temple's broken?" Amethyst asked.

"Because their drop-off points are situated all around the world," Sapphire said. "For all we know we could end up in a completely different country."

"Ugh, then what do _you_ suggest we do?" Amethyst asked. "We can't just sit here and do nothing, you know."

"You think I don't know that?" Sapphire said sternly. "Unlike you, I'm trying to come up with a plan."

"If by 'coming up with a plan' you mean, 'using your future vision to find an easy way out of this,' then fine, I believe you," Amethyst said, shrugging her shoulders.

Sapphire brushed her bangs away from her single eye, and gave the diminutive purple Gem a long, hard glance. Noticing this, Amethyst got up from the floor and walked up to Sapphire, gripping the handle of her whip as tight as she could.

"What?" Amethyst asked Sapphire. "It's the truth, isn't it?"

"Even if it is, what's it to you?" Sapphire said. "I've gotten us out of countless tight spots."

"No, it's your future vision that's gotten us out of 'countless tight spots.' _You_ , one the other hand, haven't done squat!"

"…Now isn't the time for this."

"Why not? The warp pad's broken. We've got all the time in the world."

"No, we don't – in case you've forgotten, Amethyst, there is a _monster_ out there!"

"So what? We've been fighting monsters forever! What makes this one any different!?"

Ruby jumped in front of Amethyst and gave her knuckles a loud crack, then grabbed Amethyst by her hair and went up to her face as close as she could.

"Knock it off," Ruby said deeply.

The fiery red Gem released her grip on Amethyst's hair and jumped down from the huge warp pad, and immediately went back to stomping around in circles, as if nothing ever happened. Sapphire recovered her eye with her bangs and went back to thinking of a solution to the problem her comrades and her were in, and Amethyst put away her whip and walked down from the huge warp pad and towards Pearl, who was too preoccupied with making her own mountain out of a molehill to notice the spat her friends just had.

"You got any idea what this monster is?" Amethyst asked.

"No clue," Pearl said with a hint of fear in her voice. "I've been up against countless Gem monsters and Homeworld soldiers of practically every shape and cut…"

Pearl sat down and started to tear up.

"But whatever this is… it's something completely different," Pearl whimpered. "For it to be able to evade Garnet's future vision and forcibly un-fuse Ruby and Sapphire… No opponent I've ever encountered has been able to do something like that."

"Then what are we supposed to do about it?" Amethyst asked. "We can't just stay here and think up of some crazy extensive plan while this thing's out there!"

"If you that concerned, then tell me," Pearl said as she got up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "What do _you_ suggest we do?"

"Well… I can morph into a huge bird and fly us back to the city!"

"We're miles away from the city, Amethyst… The amount of time you'll be in such a form will destroy your body."

"Then can't we just swim back?"

"Ugh, once again, we're _miles_ away! There's no way we can get back to the city in time!"

"Then what!?"

Amethyst took out her whip once more. Pearl proceeded to shield herself with her spear, which she took out as well.

"I don't see _you_ coming up with a plan, either!" Amethyst exclaimed. "All you're doing's whining and bawling about how hopeless everything is… Like you **ALWAYS** do."

"Take that back…" Pearl said, gripping her Pearl even tighter.

"Why? It's not like it was a lie," Amethyst said, smirking. "Everybody knows it; all you do is cry about everything, even if it's something good! Heck, even _Steven_ knows it!"

Pearl's eyes widened and she lunged at Amethyst with her spear. The thin, tall Gem brandished her weapon, nearly striking Amethyst right in the center of the gem on her chest. Luckily, she dodged out of the way, the spear lodging into a nearby pillar instead, and dissipated into light shortly after. Pearl walked towards Amethyst, her usually gentle gaze contorted into a look of pure anger, and much like Ruby earlier, grabbed Amethyst by her hair and picked her up from the ground.

"Stop it," Pearl said deeply.

Amethyst spat in her face.

"You stop pretending you're tough," Amethyst remarked. "You're not fooling anyone here; I know you haven't been thinking about the monster or getting us out of here. Let me guess: You're thinking about—"

Pearl threw Amethyst onto the floor, then pulled out another spear from her forehead gem and pointed it straight at the gem on Amethyst's chest. Ruby and Sapphire went towards them to break them up, but Pearl signaled to them to stay out of it.

"Do **NOT** say her name…," Pearl demanded.

"Or what?" Amethyst snickered. "You'll crack me? _Shatter_ me? You know, if she were here, I really don't think she's appreciate something like that…"

Pearl clenched her teeth and raised her spear, Amethyst smiling widely all the while. But before Pearl could strike her comrade down, Ruby leaped at her kicked the weapon out her hands, then seized it with both her hands and snapped it in two. Pearl fell to the floor and broke down in tears, unable to handle what she was just about to do.

"I… I-I'm…," Pearl quivered.

"It's okay," Sapphire said, floating down from the huge warp pad. "Besides…"

Ruby grabbed Amethyst and put her in a choke hold.

"The real Amethyst, as uncouth as she is, would never say things like that," Sapphire said.

"W-What?" Pearl said.

"Future vision…," Sapphire said brushing her bangs away from her eye. "I foresaw your struggle with her, Pearl, and I highly doubt Amethyst would ever go that far in her taunts… Unless she's being forced to do so…"

Amethyst gave Sapphire a long, hard stare, then proceeded to cackle like a witch. She shrugged Ruby off her back, let out her whip, and swatted the red Gem with a single swipe, sending Ruby right into a nearby pillar. Amethyst grinned wildly from ear to ear, but immediately fell to the floor afterwards.

"U-Uh… What happened?" Amethyst said.

"You… You don't remember?" Pearl asked.

"N-No… Last thing I remember is Garnet screaming… And then there was this light…" Amethyst said, rubbing the back of her head.

"UP THERE!" Sapphire yelled, pointing at the sky. "THERE IT IS!"

Everybody looked up and saw the perpetrator, and were taken aback by what they saw: A blue creature wearing a dress dripping in blood, floating in the sky with two giant wings made of water, large, glassy eyes, a large crooked grin… It was Lapis Lazuli.

"Y-You!?" Peal exclaimed.

"You came back…," Sapphire said. "But… different. And that difference is the reason for all this! The warp pad not working, Ruby and I suddenly un-fusing and unable to fuse back, Amethyst provoking Pearl… My future vision unable to detect you… Something's happened to you… Something… terrible."

Lapis dropped down from the sky.

" **No… It's WONDERFUL** ," Lapis said in a gravelly voice. " **Now… Time to crush the last of Rose Quartz's rebellion…** "


	5. EVAPORATE

The Crystal Gems stared at Lapis Lazuli is shock and awe, completely horrified but what she has become. The watery blue Gem grinned evilly and raised a hand, and a large column of water appeared from the ocean below. Ruby managed to work herself out of the stone pillar Lapis lodged her into, and tackled Lapis to the ground, and the water column returned to its rightful place. Lapis swatted Ruby off of her, and the red Gem landed next to her Crystal Gem comrades. Sapphire reached out to Ruby, but was met with a quick but nonetheless painful electric shock. Sapphire yelped in pain and quickly took her hands away, allowing Ruby to get up on her own.

"I remember you," Ruby said, cracking her knuckles. "Came back for another round, huh?"

"Don't go near her!" Sapphire exclaimed, brushing her hair away from her one eye. "Trust me, I'll be the last thing you'll ever do."

Ruby, never doubting a single thing her partner said before, set her fists down and backed away from Lapis. Pearl took out another spear from her forehead gem and pointed it at Lapis.

"We don't want to fight you," Pearl said.

Lapis scoffed.

" **What you want means nothing to me** ," Lapis said. " **Sad thing is she probably wished she did… but she's gone now.** "

"Who is 'she'?" Sapphire asked.

" **Lapis Lazuli, of course** ," Lapis said, running her hands through her hair and licking some of the blood off her dress. " **You wouldn't believe the things our world's capable of nowadays.** "

"Homeworld?" Pearl asked, dropping her spear. "What did… What did Homeworld do to you?"

An immense pair of wings made entirely out of water jutted out of Lapis's back, and the Crystal Gems watched as she started to rise high in the sky.

" **It doesn't matter** ," Lapis said raising her hands up, with several columns of water following suit, surrounding the Galaxy Warp. " **After all… YOU'RE ALL ABOUT TO BE SHATTERED!** "

Lapis cackled wildly, but all of sudden stopped, and her voice returned to its normal, soothing-tone.

"N-No…"

Lapis's glassy eyes briefly returned to their normal state, and the Gem let out a blood-curdling scream as she hit herself repeatedly over the head. The columns of water came crashing down one by one, the Crystal Gems struggling to evade them, but nevertheless managing to survive their onslaught.

"No! Leave them alone!" Lapis screamed, holding her head in pain. "Don't hurt them… Please… **They're our enemies, you damned traitor! They must be shattered before it's too late!** "

"I can see her hitting herself!" Amethyst yelled, dodging a wave of water. "What the heck's with her!?"

"She's trying to fight the thing Homeworld put inside her!" Sapphire exclaimed. "And it isn't looking good…"

Lapis continued to hit herself, ripping her clothes and pulling her hair out, her eyes endlessly switching from hard and glassy to gentle and watery. The ocean below was restless; massive tidal waves crashed down onto the Galaxy Warp, completely obliterating the stone pillars and most of the other warp pads. It was raining so hard that the Crystal Gems could barely keep their balance, as the floor of the Galaxy Warp was drenched in water.

"I-I don't… I don't want to hurt them!" Lapis yelled. "Please, don't! You don't have to do… **YES! YES, I DO! That's why I'm here, you fool… TO SHATTER THEM!** "

Lapis dropped from the sky like a rock, and landed so hard on to the Galaxy Warp that she created a crater in the ground. The massive tidal waves, the pouring rain… The moment Lapis landed it all stopped immediately, and the Crystal Gems were all scattered around, dazes, confused, and drenched in water. Pearl and Amethyst slipped and sided as they attempted to reach Sapphire, who was sitting in a pile of water that was slowly turning into ice. Ruby appeared from a pile of rubble and ran up to her comrades, but Sapphire motioned to her to not try to touch her again.

"We're soaking wet," Sapphire said. "You'll electrocute and poof us all…"

Sapphire got up from the frozen puddle and walked towards Lapis Lazuli. The once beautiful Gem was now a disheveled mess, and the Crystal Gems didn't know what to think anymore. Lapis collapsed and struggled to crawl to Sapphire, and grabbed the edge of Sapphire's dress.

"S-Shatter me…," Lapis quivered. "Please, shatter me… Q-Quickly, b-before it… **t-takes me again**. I c-can't… **control it any longer**!"

Lapis grabbed her head and shrieked in pain once again. Sapphire didn't move and inch. Instead she contemplated Lapis's words, and came to a conclusion.

"Amethyst," Sapphire said. "Restrain her."

Amethyst nodded and swung her whip and Lapis, tightly binding her. The purple Gem struggled to keep her at bay, but managed to trap her. She wasn't going anywhere.

"Pearl…," Sapphire said. "…You know what to do."

Pearl trembled as she walked towards Lapis, wriggling and crying.

"This… I can't remember the last time I've done something like this," Pearl said, her spear shaking in her hands.

"It's the only way," Sapphire said.

Pearl looked at her spear, then looked at Lapis Lazuli, writhing in pain and screaming. Pearl flipped her spear upside down, and aimed it at Lapis's back, where her Gem was located. Lapis looked Pearl straight in her eyes, Pearl looked at her back. Lapis started to cry uncontrollably.

" **S-Steven…** Tell **STEVEN** …" Lapis said.

"Y-Yes?" Pearl asked

" **T-Tell him…** I tried."

Pearl sniffled at her words, but nonetheless understood, and raised her spear high in the air, and plunged it straight into Lapis Lazuli's back.


	6. Subtle Rain (END)

"Steven…"

"U-Uh… H-Huh…? No… N-No… Not again… Please, l-leave me alone… I… I d-don't want to…"

"Steven… It's okay. It's over…"

As he opened his eyes, Steven Universe found himself once again in the comfort of his bed. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were standing across the room, greeting the young boy with warm, inviting smiles. Steven smiled and waved at them back with his good hand, but noticed something strange with the one Lapis Lazuli crushed. He unraveled the bloodied bandage covering it, and to his surprise, his hand was completely healed. Steven jumped out his bed and dashed out his room, and also to his surprise, his house was in pristine condition; there wasn't any puddles of water or floorboards scattered around, the furniture was unscathed, the windows were spotless, and the warp pad was untarnished. It was as if nothing ever happened. The three Gems come out the bedroom after him, and comforted him with a series of hugs and reassurance that everything is alright.

"She's in the temple," Garnet said. "She wanted us to shatter her… but we decided to take a page from your book this time."

"But how did you fix the warp pad, the house, and my hand so fast?" Steven asked.

"We didn't," Pearl said. "The warp pad just started working again once we bubbled her away. I guess the same could be said for whatever happened to the house and your hand, too; once she disappeared, everything she did just… undid itself."

Steven groaned in confusion.

"You're not alone here, dude," Amethyst said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm just as lost as you."

"But what we do understand is that none of this was actually Lapis's doing," Garnet said, patting the young boy's head. "Homeworld did something to her. Something horrifying."

"What did they do?" Steven asked.

"That's what's horrifying about it," Garnet said. "We don't know. Not even Lapis herself seemed to know…"

Steven stared at the warp pad, then back at Garnet; she knew what Steven wanted to do by the bold look on his face alone. The Gem gave the young boy another warm smile.

"Alright," Garnet said, taking ahold of Steven's hand and leading him to the warp pad. "You can see her."

Pearl and Amethyst went on top of the warp pad, as well, and in a sudden flash of light, Steven and the Crystal Gems had vanished. The quartet appeared in a small, circular room that resonated with a strong, pink light. There were protrusions akin to tree branches jutting out the ceiling and sewn about the walls of the room, and floating all around were pink bubbles of various shapes and sizes, each one holding a Gem inside it. Some of them were small, some of them were colossal. Some of them were in pristine condition, some of them were a broken mess. But Steven didn't care about any of that right now. Steven knew what he came to this room for, and he pinpointed it immediately: It was Lapis Lazuli. A pink bubble was wrapped around a small, blue, teardrop-shaped gem, and within it there was Lapis's entire being. Steven squinted to see if there were any crack or other such abnormalities, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. It was just a normal-looking gem with nothing strange about it at all…

"Will she ever get better?" Steven asked.

"No idea," Garnet said, adjusting her visor. "There doesn't seem to be a single future where Lapis is out of the bubble and back to normal."

"That, and it depends on what the exact scale of damage or… whatever's been done to her is," Pearl said. "It could take weeks, months… even _years_ for her to come back."

Steven looked down at the ground in disappointment, but quickly lifted his head up, the look on his face ever bolder than before.

"Then I'll wait for her," Steven said. "I don't care how long it takes. I'll wait for her, and then I'll show her what Earth's really like."

"Steven, I told you before," Pearl said, rubbing her temples. "You can't be friends with _everybody_ —not everybody is going to like you for who you are, especially when it comes to somebody like Lapis, who knows nothing about this world!"

"I don't care," Steven said sternly. "Not this time. When she was fighting against the thing inside her, do you know what she said? 'This is my world now.'"

"Okay… And?" Amethyst asked, shrugging her shoulders. "She blurted out something random while freaking out. So what?"

"So it means that she wants to give us a chance this time!" Steven exclaimed. "Don't doubt me on this one, guys! Please!"

"Steven, I'm sorry, but no," Pearl said sternly. "Even if she had returned but without destroying the house and attacking us, she already has one huge, glaring mark against her: She stole the entire Earth's ocean. Imagine what this world and its people would turn out if we didn't stop her that day!"

"But that was the past, Pearl!" Steven exclaimed again, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"A past that's _still_ relevant," Pearl said. "Besides, you're still a child… You should be having a say in these matters, anyway… So, for the last time, the answer is—"

"Yes," Garnet said, kneeling down to Steven and wiping tears away from her cheeks.

"What!?" Pearl exclaimed.

"We'll wait for her, all of us," Garnet said. "No matter how long it takes, we'll help bring her back to normal."

"But you just got done saying you couldn't see a future where she gets better," Amethyst said.

Garnet adjusted her visor, and smirked.

"I do now," she said.

Steven leaped into Garnet's arms and embraced the Gem.

"Thank you…," the young boy said.

And with that, he went and stood atop the warp pad.

"Where are you going?" Pearl asked.

"Connie's house,' Steven said. "There's… something I need to check. Bye…"

And the young boy disappeared in a column of light. Pearl looked and sneered at Lapis's gem, still inside the pink bubble, floating in the air, just short of hitting the ceiling.

"Are you sure you see a future where she comes back… and _isn't_ on some sort of rampage?" Pearl asked.

"I'll admit, it's faint and very vague," Garnet said. "But it's there…"

"So, what exactly _was_ that thing inside her, anyway?" Amethyst asked. "You said it made you un-fuse and it was controlling me… and that you couldn't see it with your future vision… What kind of monster has the power to do stuff like that?"

"There are a lot of monsters out there, Amethyst," Garnet said. "Lapis by herself was one of the most formidable opponents I've ever faced, but _this_ … if _this_ is what Homeworld's up to now, I've a feeling this is only the beginning of something… **terrifying**."

The Crystal Gems gave each other concerned looks, then looked once again at Lapis's gem, trapped in a bubble and suspended in midair.

"This must be absolutely harrowing for her," Pearl said, walking atop the warp pad, her two comrades following suit. "First she was stuck in a mirror, and now she's stuck in a bubble, with that… that _thing_."

"I can't imagine it," Garnet said. "But at least she isn't fighting along this time…. Come on, we've done all we can for her now. Let's leave her be."

A column of blinding light appeared out of the pillar, and the Crystal Gems were whisked away, and vanished in an instant. And there was Lapis Lazuli, once a terrifying foe who was just misunderstood, now poofed, and trapped inside a bubble as a diminutive, insignificant gem, left suspended in midair for what could possibly be forever. Nobody was there to talk to her, nobody was there to help her… In her attempt to escape a prison, she found herself in yet another prison. Homeworld's meddling has done something to her, but not even she knows what it can be, and now she's trapped with it. But maybe Lapis is inside that little gem, doing her best to fight it off, doing her best to make sure it never takes her over and hurts anyone again…

Or maybe it already has taken her over, and can't wait to escape the bubble so it can resume its tirade on the Crystal Gems and their home? Like Garnet said, there is _one_ future where this doesn't happen, but that's only one out of dozens, hundreds, thousands, _millions_. But that's no excuse to not give it a shot is there? Maybe that's what Steven was thinking when he decided to watch over her… Maybe there is a chance for Lapis, after all. But for now, there she was, in a bubble, amongst many other Gems, awaiting the day they can finally exist among the ones they love again…


End file.
